A rugged landscape

A dry if overcast morning, so we made up a picnic and the three of us set off for the granite quarries on the tip of the Ross of Mull, overlooking the island of Iona. There's a rough footpath from Fionnphort together with a track just about drivable by 4x4s. I'd not been here before so was keen to see it.

 I'm not entirely sure when the quarries were first opened, but repairs to Iona Abbey were carried out in the 1850s. The pink granite was shipped all over the place - I've borrowed a book from my daughter's office and will try to find out more about it. There are vast amounts of rock lying about almost as if a massive project was envisaged and was then cancelled! My Blip shows some of the old machinery above the shore where the rock would have been taken away by seas - in the background is Iona Abbey across the water.

We walked back to Fionnphort and drove to the oddly named Lazy Cow café, where we enjoyed tea and scrumptious cake! We sat outside watched over by a friendly Rhodesian Ridgeback, I think, and looked out over the surrounding farm where white ducks swam in the pond and a flock of Zwartbles sheep nibbled nearby. They were very tame and came up to be petted - my extra today.

Then a quick visit to the Ross of Mull Historical Centre and back to our daughter's flat.

Quote of the Day: 'I guess I look like a rock quarry that someone has dynamited.'- Charles Bronson.